The Yeti\’s Cyber Smithy

Class in other cultures

Bikers and Class

My wife often tells me what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior. It has been a difficult struggle to understand until someone recently pointed out that what she is talking about is what I used to call “class”. Evidently, the way it works is different cultures have codes of conduct. The difference between appropriate and inappropriate behavior is not a matter of right and wrong, it is a matter of compliance and incompliant to these codes of conduct. Why then do I seem to be so horribly lacking in the ability to tell the difference between inappropriate and appropriate?

Because often times the cultural codes of conduct in the society in which I live just do not make much sense. Now “class”, that made sense. Recently I walked in on something I would have rather not seen. Basically, a man was openly hitting on a girl in front of his woman. Not just openly hitting on her, but flaunting it to other men as if his penis needed of what is advertised in my email. You know, arm over shoulder, talking about snuggle fests, and so on and so forth.

Even if everyone involved had some agreement or was planning a sexual liaison, flaunting such in front of other people seems degrading to the man’s partner. In my former life, the classy thing for his partner to do would have been to go across that table and upside his face. Ah, but in this culture her self-esteem problems will grow and she will cry alone in the dark. All because such actions are inapropriate.

I think my old life’s rules of social conduct better. Sure, there was the potential for more violence. But there was much much less potential for abuse.